Cifras
Ticking

           F                                                 Bb/F                                                           F         Bb/F 
"An extremely quiet child" they called you in your school reports
 F                                                              Bb/F                           F           Bb/F 
"He's always taken interest in the subjects that he's taught"
         Am                                                                                                             Gm 
So what was it that brought the squad car screaming up your drive
 C                                                             Bb                                   F       Bb/F 
To notify your parents of the manner in which you died
 F                                                 Bb/F                                                       F       Bb/F 
At St. Patricks every Sunday, Father Fletcher heard your sins
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"Oh, he's unconcerned with competition he never cares to win"
         Am                                                                                       Gm 
But blood stained a young hand that never held a gun
 C                                                                     Bb                                   F       Bb/F 
And his parents never thought of him as their troubled son
 F   Am/E             Dm 
"Now you'll never get to Heaven"
 Gm                 C                                     F                 A7 
Mama said Remember Mama said Ticking, ticking
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"Grow up straight and true blue, Run along to bed"
 C        Am       Gm                   F 
Hear it, hear it, ticking, ticking
 F                                                                   Bb/F                                       F       Bb/F 
They had you holed up in a downtown bar screaming for a priest
 F                                                                                        Bb/F                           F       Bb/F 
Some gook said "His brain's just snapped" then someone called the police
         Am                                                                                                 Gm 
You'd knifed a Negro waiter who had tried to calm you down
 C                                                                                   Bb                                   F       Bb/F 
Oh you'd pulled a gun and told them all to lay still on the ground
 F                                                 Bb/F                                   F 
Promising to hurt no one, providing they were still
 F                                                                            Bb/F                           F 
A young man tried to make a break, with tear-filled eyes you killed
         Am                                                                                                 Gm 
That gun butt felt so smooth and warm cradled in your palm
 C                                                                                   Bb                                   F 
Oh your childhood cried out in your head "they mean to do you harm"
 F   Am/E             Dm                                               Gm 
"Don't ever ride on the devil's knee" Mama said
 C                                     F                 A7 
Remember mama said Ticking, ticking
 Dm                                                               Gm 
"Pay your penance well, my child Fear where angels tread"
 C        Am       Gm                   F 
Hear it, hear it, ticking, ticking
 F                                                 Bb/F                                   F 
Within an hour the news had reached the media machine
 F                                                                            Bb/F 
A male caucasian with a gun had gone berserk in Queens
         Am                                                                                                 Gm 
The area had been sealed off, the kids sent home from school
 C                                                                                   Bb                                   F 
Fourteen people lying dead in a bar they called the Kicking Mule
 F                                                             Bb/F                                       F 
Oh they pleaded to your sanity for the sake of those inside
 F                                                                            Bb/F                           F 
"Throw out your gun, walk out slow just keep your hands held high"
         Am                                                                                                                     Gm 
But they pumped you full of rifle shells as you stepped out the door
 C                                                                             Bb                                                 F 
Oh you danced in death like a marionette on the vengeance of the law
 F   Am/E     Dm                                               Gm 
"You've slept too long in silence" Mama said
 C                                     F                 A7 
Remember Mama said Ticking, ticking
 Dm                                                                                       Gm 
"Crazy boy, you'll only wind up with strange notions in your head"
 C        Am       Gm                   F 
Hear it, hear it, ticking, ticking